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Charting its own course

Fri, Apr 01, 2016 - 5:50 AM

YCH Group's satellite automated cart storage system, which improves productivity by using less space and time.

FILE PHOTO

YCH Group's transformation has been tremendous over the past 61 years, from a small passenger transport company to having footprints in the Asia-Pacific. Let us take a quick look at the group's significant milestones so far.

TIMELINE

1955: Yap Chwee Hock Transport and General Contactors is founded by Yap Chwee Hock. The company provides transport for staff of the Public Utilities Board (PUB) and the British Army.

1976: The company is dealt a huge blow with the loss of the yearly PUB contract that contributes up to 90 per cent of revenues.

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1978: A year after Mr Yap joined, the company clinches its first tender to ferry cargo for the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), marking a significant turning point in the firm's history.

1980: Robert Yap steps up to become the managing director, while the elder Mr Yap takes over the role of chairman.

1981: Y3 Technologies, the firm's IT arm, is set up to design and develop in-house solutions for clients.

1988: The organisation ventures into Malaysia.

1992: The firm's signature DistriPark at Tuas is launched. The company also sets up its business in Hong Kong.

1994: The firm becomes one of the pioneer batch of Singapore companies to enter the Chinese market.

1995 to 2005: The company develops proprietary applications to integrate the various logistics services, paving the way for it to build a solid logistics network with state-of-the-art DistriParks. The firm transforms into a supply chain management company and is rebranded as YCH. It moves into the Indonesian market in 1996, Australia in 1997, the Philippines in 2002, then Thailand in 2003.

2006 to present: Continues with its growth momentum to become Singapore's biggest home-grown supply chain solutions provider. YCH branches out into India in 2006, as well as Vietnam and Korea in 2009.

Mid-2016: Supply Chain City, YCH's new flagship headquarters in Jurong to be operational.